David Abernathy
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dabernat.bsky.social
David Abernathy
@dabernat.bsky.social
Professor at Warren Wilson College in #HeleneGroundZero Swannanoa, NC (near Asheville). I teach GIS, political ecology, and global studies. Interested in open science, open source, open educational resources, and open pedagogy. And Panama.
Reposted by David Abernathy
Breaking News: Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old state lawmaker from Queens, will be the 111th mayor of New York. He will be the first Muslim to ever lead the city, as well as its first South Asian mayor and the youngest mayor in more than a century.
nyti.ms/47O4mT0
November 5, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by David Abernathy
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nation’s public health system "should alarm every American."

It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
Opinion | We Ran the C.D.C.: Kennedy Is Endangering Every American’s Health
www.nytimes.com
September 1, 2025 at 11:23 AM
August 20, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Reposted by David Abernathy
"This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment," the WHCA says after the Trump admin nixes the WSJ from an upcoming trip www.cnn.com/2025/07/21/m...
Trump White House removes Wall Street Journal from Scotland trip press pool over Epstein report | CNN Business
When the White House took control of the so-called “press pool” that accompanies the president, journalists worried that the Trump administration would use that power to punish news outlets.
www.cnn.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by David Abernathy
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
July 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
"In March, for the first time, fossil fuels generated less than half the electricity in the U.S. In California, at one point on May 25th, renewables were producing a record hundred and fifty-eight per cent of the state’s power demand." Bill McKibben in the #Newyorker. Good luck with #drillbabydrill
July 10, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Remember those nationwide protests against Obama and Biden? Me neither.
April 5, 2025 at 11:25 PM
@pitchfork.com Can you put your playlists on YouTube Music?
March 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by David Abernathy
I don’t even know how this could be presented as being in service of anything other than hindering scientific progress.
CDC Staff Prohibited From Co-Authoring Papers With World Health Organization Personnel
It’s just the latest “Orwellian” crackdown on government scientists.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
March 1, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by David Abernathy
The Trump administration has begun firing employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of the world’s premier centers for climate science.
Mass Layoffs Begin at NOAA
The cuts came just before a separate wave of departures was expected under the Trump administration’s so-called deferred resignation program.
www.nytimes.com
February 28, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Reposted by David Abernathy
Are you affected by the @noaa.gov layoffs?

I'm a longtime environment reporter interested in NOAA, EPA and USGS.

Send me tips: lisasong.42 on Signal

Here's what I cover and some examples of my work: www.propublica.org/people/lisa-...
February 27, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by David Abernathy
I am now hearing from multiple folks in the past two hours (including some who have personally been fired) that mass firings have now commenced within NOAA--including, yes, at the National Weather Service.
February 27, 2025 at 9:17 PM
The 100th anniversary of the Guna Revolution is being celebrated this month. But unfortunately this is harder to resist:

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Climate change: The Panama community that fled its drowning island
Rising sea levels threaten homes in Panama, but not everyone wants to leave.
www.bbc.com
February 13, 2025 at 3:30 PM
And 100 or so of the workers in the Office of Environmental Justice are being told they may be put on leave.
EJScreen, the EPA’s environmental justice screening and mapping tool, has been taken down.
www.epa.gov/ejscreen
www.epa.gov
February 6, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Reposted by David Abernathy
It is astonishing that mainstream media is covering this like it is a shruggie vibe 🤷‍♂️
February 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by David Abernathy
“A Hitler salute is a Hitler salute is a Hitler salute,” the prominent German weekly Die Zeit wrote in an editorial.

Also, in related news, a clownish dick is a clownish dick.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/w...
What Elon Musk’s Salute Was All About
A gesture associated with the Nazis has a surprising history. But in Germany, there was little doubt about its meaning.
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Reposted by David Abernathy
This article is bleak, to say the least.

What are administrators doing to protect their faculty and students, to promote academic freedom, to ensure that universities remain places of critical inquiry, and to protect research funding and scientific advances?

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/o...
Opinion | Harvard Has Already Capitulated to Trump’s War on Academia (Gift Article)
The administration is trying to assert political control over American higher education.
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Reposted by David Abernathy
The price of eggs in the US is spiking, mostly due to #H5N1 bird flu. Solving the problem requires urgent, important communications from the CDC & FDA* and rapid development of research by the NIH**

* Currently paused by Executive Order
** Grant reviews now all canceled
www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...
Egg prices are soaring again. Here’s why and what to expect
Bird flu has killed millions of hens in recent weeks, shrinking the supply of eggs and hiking up prices at grocery stores.
www.kcur.org
January 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Climate change isn't a problem for future generations. It is impacting communities here and now. I am posting this on the two month anniversary of Hurricane #Helene hitting my mountain town of #Asheville, and I will be in Guna Yala in less than two months.

www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...
Panama prepares to relocate Indigenous residents of island threatened by rising seas
The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in t...
www.pbs.org
November 27, 2024 at 12:20 AM
Potable water in #AVL! Thanks to all who struggled mightily to make this happen. Might still want to test for lead. avlwatchdog.org/asheville-po...
Asheville potable water is back, city boil water notice lifted • Asheville Watchdog
After 54 days without potable water, City of Asheville water customers once again can consume water directly from their taps. At the daily Helene briefing Monday, Asheville Water Resources Department ...
avlwatchdog.org
November 19, 2024 at 3:21 AM